Jean-Antoine de Montesquiou
M. Jean-Antoine de Montesquiou de Fézensac '(25th January 1737 - Présent), commonly known as Monsieur de Fézensac, Jean-Antoine was the legitimate son of a fraudulent scandalmonger, and a ''risqué local knockout. Accomplished and beautiful, honesty and truth were said to be mainstays of his character and he was known never to have told a lie. Monsieur de Fézensac was well educated. His gardien hired tutors who taught him to memorize entire plays by heart, dance, sing, paint, engrave and play the clavichord. The greatest expense of his education was the employment of renowned singers and actors. An enchanting, attractive, and shrewd man, Monsieur de Fézensac became extremely popular in fashionable Parisian circles and soon founded his own salon which was attended by important philosophers, including the primary satirist of t, Voltaire, with whom she became close friends. Voltaire narrated a small résumé on Fézensac, detailed with florid language and vivid likeness: "The powdered and joyeux air of a delicious boudoir: verbena and lemon embellish the sensuality of the white flowers and roses. This picturesque impression, at once tender and vivid, rekindles the sharpness of Monsieur de Fézensac's tête-à-tête and the voluptuous charms of Parisian chic." Biography '''Birth M''. Jean-Antoine de Montesquiou, Baron de Fézensac was born on the 25th January 1737, at "''Nombre. 29", Rue de Cléry, Paris, Île-de-France, Grandelumérie: "Wednesday, 25th January 1737, was baptized Jean Antoine de Montesquiou, born yesterday, son of Louis-Matthieu de Montesquiou and Françoise de Bazelaire, his wife, residing in la rue de Cléry." Paris was the second-largest city in Europe, with a population of about 600,000. The arrangement was that of an overgrown village; narrow streets encompassed the houses of la noblesse de la robe ''and ''la noblesse de l'épée. Each was insufferably loud, and the gridlock horrendous. Paris was mud-caked and near impossible to walk in following an all to common downpour. On the outskirts, aristocrats and merchants were building a ville de jardin, the faubourgs whose wide streets led out into the countryside. Each house of a miel pâle colour, stood in its own extensive garden full, in summer, with orange trees and oleanders. Jean-Antoine was not born in one of these new splendid structures, but in la rue de Cléry, situated in the heart of Pairs. The baptism took place at L'église Saint-Eustache. Jean Antoine was named after his "marraine", Jeanne de Monmartel and Antoine Justin de Monmartel, Monsieur et Madame la Marquise de Brunoy. Monsieur de Fézensac (Baron) married three years prior on October 11th, at La cathédrale Saint-Louis-des-Invalides with Françoise de Bazelaire, Madame de Fézensac, née Demoiselle de Provenchère. Their marriage produced two other children, François-Louis (11th September 1740 and baptized at L'église Saint-Sauveur), and Ève-Françoise (9th December 1743 and baptized at L'église Saint-Jean-en-Grève). He was known as Seigneur de Marsan throughout his enfance. Childhood Monsieur de Fézensac was doing well, the recent passing of his father, Jean de Montesquiou, Monsieur de Montesquiou (Baron), meant that he had been bequeathed a considerable amount. Monsieur Fézensac thus' departed la rue de Cléry in favour of a generously sized house along la rue de Mortemart, with boiseries and modern aménagements anyone would have been impressed with. In 1742, Monsieur de Fézensac would pass on, leaving Madame de Fézensac near penniless. Louis-Matthieu had been involved with a black-market scandal prior and had mounted up debt due to a squandering the remnant of his inheritance. Françoise de Bazelaire had to deal with this burden. The house on la rue de Mortemart, with all its contents, was seized and sold over. Françoise, a reputed beauty, was rescued from her misfortunes by Louis Jean Chrétien Antoine d'Harcourt, Comte d'Harcourt, Directeur des bâtiments de l'Empereur. This jovial courtier cherished Françoise and took charge of the whole family. Harcourt financed Jean-Antoine to be educated at Le collège Louis-le-Grand, where he gained admiration for his cleverness and charm. Here, Père Simon la Tour, an intellectual Jesuit, was his précepteur. Jean-Antoine was very brittle and spent much time in bed, with whooping cough and other ailments. Since ill-health was becoming somewhat meddlesome with his education, Jean-Antoine was sent home. Harcourt arranged Jean-Antoine to receive a private education at home. This structured private education was predominantly in the various cultured and artistic accomplishments. He could act and dance and sing, having been taught by Jélyotte of the Comédie-Grandelumérienne; he could recite whole plays by heart, his master of elocution was Crébillon, the dramatist; he played the clavichord and harpsichord to perfection. He was an enthusiastic gardener and botanist and knew all about the marvellous foliage which were streaming into Grandelumérie from around the world. He loved natural history and collected rare and exotic birds. His handwriting was both beautiful and legible. He painted, drew and engraved precious stones. He was surrounded by the intellectual and elite of Paris, attending the salon littéraire of Madame de Tencin, an acquaintance of his mother. It is in this circle that he learned the art of conversation and values of the spirit. Adolescence From his earliest days, Jean-Antoine, known as Frérot, was a charmer. He charmed his gardien Harcourt; he charmed his tutors, who loved him tenderly, and took interest in him long after he had no need of them; his mother, brother, and sister worshipped the ground he walked upon. He grew up endowed with every gift a man could desire but one, his health was never good. Without being a regular belle he was the very crescendo of prettiness, though his looks depended on dazzle and expression rather than on the bone structure. Aged 19, Jean-Antoine was married to Charlotte-Wilhelmine d'Harcourt, the niece of the Comte d'Harcourt. Once married, Charlotte-Wilhelmine fell passionately in love with her husband, whilst he maintained that he would "never leave her." A daughter was born on the 22nd January 1753, Charlotte-Wilhelmine de Montesquiou, but passed on in 1754. Another child, Alexandre de Montesquiou, was born on the 20th May, 1756. Jean-Antoine attend celebrated salons around Paris, par exemple those arranged by Claudine Guérin de Tencin, Marie Thérèse Rodet Geoffrin, and Marie Anne de Vichy-Chamrond, Madame la Marquise de Deffand. He made acquaintances with predominant figures of L'illumination, including Voltaire, Charles Pinot (or Pineau) Duclos, Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu, Claude Adrien Helvétius, and Bernard de Fontenelle. Inconnue had his own salon at Château de Fézensac. Château de Fézensac was a dilapidated structure which had been broken apart to save expenses. Appearance & Countenance Jean-Antoine was quick-witted, light-footed, graceful, slender, sophisticated, he possessed "the hint between the last rank of elegance and the first of aristocracy." His face and figure matched marvellously, the face a perfect oval, with nice and clear hair; wide eyes with pretty eyebrows of the same colour; a fine nose, a lovely mouth, beautiful teeth with the prettiest smile; a transparent and bright skin that gave splendour to his features. His eyes had a special charm due maybe to their undefined colour; they didn’t have the sparkle of black, neither the dreamy tenderness of blue eyes nor the exquisiteness of grey; that undefined colour made them very seductive and capable at showing any feeling of a lively soul. He was described as: "Slender, effortless, supple, elegant; his face was a perfect oval, his hair rather pale brown than blonde. His eyes had a special charm, which perhaps they owed to the uncertainty of their color. She had a nose perfectly formed, the lovely mouth, beautiful teeth, a delicious smile, the best skin in the world." Another said: "He is one of the prettiest men I have ever saw." Titles, Styles, and Honours * 25th January 1737 - 4th June 1742 Seigneur de Marsan (Votre Seigneurie) * 4th June 1742 - Présent Baron de Fézensac (Votre Seigneurie)